Bear Skull Euro

[cougforester]

Going to try to work on my first euro mount this weekend on my bear I shot earlier this year. It is frozen with all the tissue/brain in there still. Should I thaw before boiling or just drop it right in straight out of the freezer. Don't know if there could be any issues that arise from a quick temperature change or anything weird. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

Mods, please move this to the taxidermy section if you need to. Thanks

[sumpnz]

I would thaw it first.  Never tried to boil a frozen skull, but I'd think you'd be risking cracking the bones.  If you don't want to let it thaw on the counter first I'd at least drop it in while the water is still cold and then put the heat under it.  That will at least allow it to come gradually up to boiling rather than shocking it from 0F-212F all at once.

[cougforester]

I would thaw it first.  Never tried to boil a frozen skull, but I'd think you'd be risking cracking the bones.  If you don't want to let it thaw on the counter first I'd at least drop it in while the water is still cold and then put the heat under it.  That will at least allow it to come gradually up to boiling rather than shocking it from 0F-212F all at once.

Yeahhhh that's what I was thinking too. Better safe than sorry I guess.

[buglebuster]

I wouldn't boil it. Look up maceration boiling a bear skull is a sure way to lose all the nose bones and get cracked teeth.

[cougforester]

I wouldn't boil it. Look up maceration boiling a bear skull is a sure way to lose all the nose bones and get cracked teeth.

Yuck. I've done that before for a coyote skeleton in high school, used poop to get the necessary bacteria. Smelled so bad I think that I'll take my chances with boiling. Think I'm scarred.

[sumpnz]

I wouldn't boil it. Look up maceration boiling a bear skull is a sure way to lose all the nose bones and get cracked teeth.

Yuck. I've done that before for a coyote skeleton in high school, used poop to get the necessary bacteria. Smelled so bad I think that I'll take my chances with boiling. Think I'm scarred.

I buried my elk's skull up to the base of the antlers for about 2-3 months in the back yard.  A little smell when I pulled it out, but not bad.  Zero soft tissue.  Looks dirty, but if I wanted to bother with borax or peroxide it would whiten up nicely I'm sure.  Granted I've got 5 acres, but even my kids said that, as long as the dirt was still over it, they couldn't smell anything.  Upshot is, very little effort on my part (I did skin the skull first).  Downside was it took almost 3 months.  I did not do anything special to keep scavengers/predators out.  Yard is unfenced and I didn't put anything around/over the site to protect it.  YMMV on that issue.

[buglebuster]

I wouldn't boil it. Look up maceration boiling a bear skull is a sure way to lose all the nose bones and get cracked teeth.

Yuck. I've done that before for a coyote skeleton in high school, used poop to get the necessary bacteria. Smelled so bad I think that I'll take my chances with boiling. Think I'm scarred.

I use an old crock pot for bears. Put it on warm. Only takes about a week and literally no smell. Especially if you change the water every 2 days. I can literally handle the bone and not get stinky hands.

[cougforester]

I wouldn't boil it. Look up maceration boiling a bear skull is a sure way to lose all the nose bones and get cracked teeth.

Yuck. I've done that before for a coyote skeleton in high school, used poop to get the necessary bacteria. Smelled so bad I think that I'll take my chances with boiling. Think I'm scarred.

I use an old crock pot for bears. Put it on warm. Only takes about a week and literally no smell. Especially if you change the water every 2 days. I can literally handle the bone and not get stinky hands.

Hm, that's not a bad idea at all. Do you put any degreaser in there? I've seen that original Oxyclean works pretty well. Then I would think you soak in a peroxide mixture to whiten it up?

[cougforester]

I wouldn't boil it. Look up maceration boiling a bear skull is a sure way to lose all the nose bones and get cracked teeth.

Yuck. I've done that before for a coyote skeleton in high school, used poop to get the necessary bacteria. Smelled so bad I think that I'll take my chances with boiling. Think I'm scarred.

I buried my elk's skull up to the base of the antlers for about 2-3 months in the back yard.  A little smell when I pulled it out, but not bad.  Zero soft tissue.  Looks dirty, but if I wanted to bother with borax or peroxide it would whiten up nicely I'm sure.  Granted I've got 5 acres, but even my kids said that, as long as the dirt was still over it, they couldn't smell anything.  Upshot is, very little effort on my part (I did skin the skull first).  Downside was it took almost 3 months.  I did not do anything special to keep scavengers/predators out.  Yard is unfenced and I didn't put anything around/over the site to protect it.  YMMV on that issue.

I wonder if you had covered it in cheesecloth or something if that may have kept it a bit cleaner? Good to know though.

[tgomez]

Did one last year. Let it thaw, then boil it for 30-40min. While it's hot scrape out the brain, the eyes, and all meat and tendon off the bones. Then put back in simmering hot water for 15min. Next step is to degrease the skull with Dawn dish soap. Put it in warm water and degrease for 2-3hours. The soap will pull out thr grease from the skull. RINSE SKULL THOROUGHLY. Final step is put the clean skull in 3percent hydrogen peroxide. USE IT FULL STRENGTH AT 3percent(took me 8 bottles to SUBMERGE SKULL COMPLETELY. Leave in for 30-40 hours. Now your done, enjoy.

[Machias]

Beatles

[buglebuster]

You have to degrease it good. Dawn dish soap isn't enough for bears. I use acetone. Couple gallons in a bucket then submerge the skull for a month with a lid on. Sometimes a month isn't enough.

[Molon5labe]

Check out whitebone creations on Youtube. He's got a lot of really good videos.